New Minivan Stalls While Driving, Can't Accelerate to Safety: Parents

There's a push nationwide for a recall of more than 150,000 minivans. Dozens of owners have filed complaints with the government that their vehicles are stalling while they're driving. (Published Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017)

There’s a push nationwide for a recall of more than 150,000 Chrysler Pacifica minivans. Dozens of owners have filed complaints with the government that their vehicles are stalling while they're driving.

Imagine driving on the highway and suddenly your car just stalls. No power steering, no turn signals, and you can't accelerate to get out of the way of oncoming traffic.

This scenario is reportedly playing out across the country. Now, we're hearing from one mom who said it happened to her.

Adam and Allison Cohen purchased their minivan for the same reason many parents do, safety.

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On two separate occasions, they say their 2017 Chrysler Pacifica lost power and stalled while Allison was driving with one of their children.

Allison Cohen describes the incident saying, “Your car is basically off, you don't have power steering, you can't accelerate and I was in the middle of an intersection in my neighborhood and my car just stops.”

The Cohens are one of more than 50 Pacifica minivan owners who've filed complaints with the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration.

One driver recorded his own incident after he safely pulled over. He said his 2017 Pacifica stalled while driving in the fast lane on a busy San Francisco freeway.

The Center for Auto Safety, along with the Cohens, filed a petition with NHTSA to investigate the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica for stalling issues.

The Center for Auto Safety’s Executive Director Jason Levine said, “What we want to see Chrysler do is 1. Get these cars off the road, 2. Give people a loaner, and 3. Figure out what the problem is and fix it.”

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The Cohens refuse to drive their brand new Pacifica, which now is parked back at the dealership.

Adam Cohen explains why he came to us.

"I don't have the luxury to be patient and waiting for them to take action and Chrysler wasn't doing anything about it and that's when we decided to do something more.”

NBC Responds reached out to Chrysler. In a statement the company said, "it's unaware of any injuries or accidents associated with these complaints ... in most of the complaints ... customers were able to restart their vehicles immediately thereafter, and the condition did not reoccur."

The Cohens told us Chrysler did offer to buy back their Pacifica. The driver who recorded the incident from San Francisco confirmed with us that Chrysler extended the same offer to him as well.